Exclusive: Rep. George Santos, on "The Point with Marcia Kramer," says he's learning to "take lemons and turn them into margaritas"
NEW YORK -- Congressman George Santos has been in office for four months, achieving a notoriety that has made him a name far beyond his Long Island district.
In an exclusive interview with CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer on "The Point," the controversial congressman reveals how he intends to use that notoriety to try to achieve results in Washington.
After his inauspicious entry into the House, the last thing you might have expected to hear from Santos was a detailed plan that he thinks will finally force Congress to repeal the SALT bill. Whether it works remains to be seen, but it's something no one else has tried.
- Related story: Long Island Republicans sponsoring bill to repeal SALT cap
"Marcia, I've made it clear. The Speaker needs my vote for the next debt limit," Santos said.
The man who some say lied his way into Congress told Kramer he's got a bold plan to force Congress to repeal the SALT bill that limited the deductibility of state and local taxes. He's simply going to trade his vote on the debt limit for SALT.
"Are you really saying you're holding hostage your vote on the debt limit?" Kramer said.
"And that's my vote to hold hostage, and my district supports me for it," Santos said.
Santos doesn't have the support of local Republicans and many Long Island voters are still upset over his election, but he tells Kramer he's undeterred.
"I know that you want to run for re-election, but the question really becomes how can you really deliver for your district? I mean, you're on no committees. Jerry Nadler has banned you from going to the bipartisan meetings of the New York delegation, and the 11 bills that you've actually sponsored, you have no co-sponsors," Kramer said.
"OK," Santos said.
"So how do you get anything done when you're sort of a pariah in Washington?" Kramer asked.
"So the statement 'pariah,' that's harsh words because it's not true. I work very well, and I have working relationships with Democrats. I'm texting back and forth with a few of them, if you looked at my phone right now, and," Santos said.
"Well, who are you texting? Which Democrat?" Kramer asked.
"I don't put people's names out on the press because I've learned that then you guys, or not you necessarily, but the press will go attack them," Santos said.
In a wide-ranging interview, Santos also told Kramer he is learning to use the notoriety his indiscretion thrust upon him.
"When you're running for Congress, Marcia, you're running to go be the voice of your community. Now, it happens that I have a very loud voice, and I'm starting to understand what I can do with it for the good and, you know, take lemons and turn them into margaritas. Not lemonade, it's boring," Santos said.
Kramer says Santos was anything but boring during an extended edition of "The Point."
- Flashback (10/21/22): Democrat Robert Zimmerman, Republican George Santos trade blows on "The Point with Marcia Kramer"
He talked about everything from his favorite joke late night talk show hosts told about him to how he's going to co-sponsor a bill with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
"You two couldn't be further apart," Kramer said.
"And yet I would be willing to work with her," Santos said.
"Is she willing to work with you?" Kramer asked.
"Well, I don't know that yet," Santos said.
"She's a left of center Democrat, and you are definitely right of center Republican," Kramer said.
"So let's do this -- I'm co-sponsoring her bill this week to ... ban stock trading for members of Congress," Santos said. "I don't think members of Congress should trade stocks. Have we learned nothing from watching all of these Congressmen and women becoming absolutely filthy rich at the backs of the American people?"
Kramer also asked Santos about the Congressional investigations into how he won his job.
"Have you been able to explain where the money came from for your campaign that you say that you contributed?" Kramer asked.
"Like I said, we're not there yet, and I won't debate what the investigation entails until it's concluded," Santos said.
While he brags about being a first generation American -- his family came here from Brazil -- he is not willing to have the asylum seekers sent to Long Island. Instead, he attacked New York City policies.
"It's a little offensive to me, though, that for years we've had a perpetual issue of homelessness in New York and nobody ever mobilized to take care of our homeless population, our NYCHA residents, people living in absolutely inhumane conditions," Santos said.
Then there's the issue of his socks; he always wears political socks and has 30 pairs, but you'll have to watch "The Point" to see which ones he was wearing.
You can watch the entire interview Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on CBS2 and streaming on CBS News New York.
